Improvement in magazine fire-arms



UNTTEn-STATES PATENT OEETCE JAMES B. nooLITTLE', oEisEYMoUE,CONNECTICUT.

IMPROVEMENT IN MAGAZINE FIRE-ARMS.'

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 35,996, dated July 29,

To all whom tt mayV concern: Beit known that I, JAMEs B. DooLITTLE,

. of Seymour,in the county of New Haven and State oi' Connecticut, haveinvented a new and usefulv Improvement in Repeating Fire-Arms;

- and I do hereby declare that the following is y a full, clear, andexact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, forming part of this specification,

lin whichi Figure 1 is a central'hlongitudinal vertical section-of 'arepeating -riiie with my improve- `inents, omitting all of the barrelthat, is not necessary to illustrate the invention. Fig. 2

y .is a back view of the same. l

verse section of the stock in the plane indi- 'is a'transverse sectionof the same in the plane indicated' by the line x a: of Fig. l. Fig. 3is a frontview of the rotating cylinder. Fig. fi

Fig. 5 is a transcated by the line y y, Fig. 1. Fig. 6 is a side view ofthe cylinder-yoke. Fig. 7 is a back view of the same. Fig. 8 is a front`view of the same.- Fig. V9 is a side view of the dog by which therotation of the cylinder is effected. Fig. 10 is a front view of thesame. l

Similar letters of reference indicate corre-- ,p spending parts in theseveral iigures.

. This invention consists, mainly, in a certain construction of and modeof operating a seriesot` chambers by which cartridges are re-` ceivedfrom one or Inore magazines in the taches the barrel B to the stocx D,and which the'left of` Fig. l; which is taken looking in aforwarddirectiom) and has its other side closed by-a plate, A', which isscrewed on after the contains the rotating cylinder and sliding Ayoke E.The general form of the frame A is substantially like that of iire-armscommonly .i constructed with the rotating many-chambered cylinder,except that, instead of being entirely open on both sides, it has acomparatively small opening, a, on the right side,'(shown at cylinder Gand yokehave-been putin. The

.said frame is slotted vertically the whole :length of its interiory forthe reception ofthe sliding yoke E, which works vertically right throughthe top and bottom of it.

`The yoke E has a quadrangular opening in a lateral direction, saidopening being just long enough Vfrom back to front to receive thecylinder lengthwise within it without interfering with its own upwardand downward movement in the frame A, or with the rotation of thecylinder, and its depth from top to bottom is sufficient to permit it towork up and down some distance independently of the cylinder.

The cylinder C is not chambered like that of an ordinary revolver, butonly what may be termed half chamberedj?y having in its periphery anumber et' semi-cylindrical cavities, c o, parallel with and at equaldistances from its axis and at equaldistances from each other, each ofthese cavities constituting onehalf of a chamber from which thev chargeis to be tired, and a semi cylindrical cavity, b, in the interior of theupper part of the yoke E being made to combine with either of thecavities c c, and with each in turn to form-the complete chamber, theyoke and the cylinder be- Y ing so fitted as to .be capable of forminggastight joints at the sides of the chambers. The cylinderhas simply arotary motion on the iixed axis-pinv d, -which is secured in the trameA.

The yoke E has an upward and downward movement, the downwardmovementserving to bring the part b of the chambers into connection withthe parts c c preparatory to firing, and the upward movement being forthe removal of the part b to permit the cylinder to rotate, such upwardmovement being sutil cient to allow the discharged shells to cleatheupper part of the yoke that they may be conveyed by the rotation of thecylinder to f the opening', a, provided in the frame A for theirdischarge. In the front of the yoke there is a circular opening, b',corresponding with the bore of the barrel and concentric with the cavityb, and below this there is an elongated-'` intoxthe halfchambers@ o ofthe cylinder.

The said opening is also deep 'enough to permit the passage of the basepin through its upper part, and to permit the dog G, through which therotation of the cylinder is effected, to work through its lower part.The upper 4part of the back of the yoke, in rear of and below the cavityb, constitutes the breech, and on the back surface of this partof theyoke v there isformed an inclinedplane, q,.to oper-v ate against areversed inclined plane, fr, provided in the back part of the fra-me A,as

o ShOWDIi Fig: 1- BymeansnfwtheseinclinedY ,planes the yoke lis forcedforward against the barrel as it is brought down upon the cylinder; Theinclined plane r is made of a separate piece of lsteel slipped into agroove of -dovetail form provided in the back of the frame A for itsreception. In the top part of the yoke, in the side farthest from theopening a in the frame, there is tted into a mortise,'12, a vertically.-sliding tooth, 13, which iscapable of entering the cavity b, and abovethis tooth there is provided on the top of the frame A a fixed tooth,14, by which, when the yoke is moved upward to open a chamber, Vc b,thel said tooth 13 is prevented from rising all the i way withtheyoke,and so caused to press down the cartridge-shells which have beendischarged, and detach them from the yoke in 'case of their sticking toit,`so that they'may be carried round by the cylinder to be thrown outat the opening a. When the yoke is brought down `again upon a cartridgein oneof the half-chambers o c, the tooth 13, on striking thecartridge,A has its further descent I stopped, while the yoke completesits descent;

Behind the cylindera small hook, l, is ar- -ranged to work in theopening a of the frame A, for the purpose'of tripping out the shellsfrom the half -cliambersoo in case of vtheir having anytendency to sticktherein.' This hook has a slight swinging movement from a.

pivot, l, which attaches it -tothe frame A, and is 'operated -by meansof the yoke E, in the back ofwhose interior there is Aa' groove forthereceptionfof the said hook. "H is a lever,.by which the operations ofthe the horn fi being for the purpose of drawing d o'wn .fthedog Gragainst the teeth k k on the back of the cylinder, and: therebyproducing4 vthe rotation thereof, and the'horn j being for r the purposeof forcing up the said dog to ena ble it to-pass over the said teeth.The dog G is fitted to. slide vertically in a guide in the back oftheframe A immediatelybehind the yoke, and lits upper part works throughthe opening in the back of the yoke on the right- .hand side of theaxispin d. The upper porj tion of the said dogbelow the `tooth or hook'l is elastic,jto enable said tooth or hook to spring back and pass overthev teeth kk in the upward movement of the dog. The lower part of thedog protrudes through the bottom ofz the frame A, and at its .lowerextremity there is-'formed a tooth-like forward projection, n, for thehorns ij to act upon to produce its operation. In frontof the` yokethere is secured a locking-pin, m, which' engages in a series ofradiating notches, o o, in a cavity in the front ofthe cylinder4 for'thepnrpose of locking the 'Y cylinder after any one of thehalf-chambers c c has been brought opposite to the chamber b .by the actof bringing down the yoke to complete the chamber.

The two magazines F provided in thestock are arranged on opposite sidesof a plane pass. ing vertically and centrally through the stock and theaxis-pin alc and with 'their mouths,

which are in the frame A, .below the axis-pin d, at a distance apartcorresponding with thc distance between the half-chambers c c, b5

which arrangement, and by providing a proper number of half-chambers c oin the. cylinder,

there is always a half-chamber opposite each inagazinelwhenever achamber is opposite to the barrel. The said magazines are filled withcartridges through -small -doors p p, provided on the sides of thestock, and the cartridges are fed forward within them and supplied tothe cylinder by means vof a spiral spring, 1

anda follower, s, in each; and in orderto en# able the springs to becompressed and the followers to be drawn back beyond their respectivedoors p p, cords t are attached at one end to the followers andconducted round pulleys u c, arranged-within the back ofthe stock, andthe other ends of the said cords are attached to a slide, w, working ina groove inthe 'under side of the-stock.' This slide has a knob, w,

'protruding through the groove to serve as a handle, and in the frontportion of the groove there is on one side a notch, @02, for thereception of this knob. By drawing forward the knob w1 as far as thenotch 102, the followers 8 are drawn back beyond the doors-p p, and byturning the said -knob aside into the said notch the slide w and thefollowers are secured whilethe magazines are filled, and after both havebe'en filled the knob w1 is turned aside from the notch wi,`and thesprings are allowed to press the cartridges forward toward the cylinder.

The rotation-of the cylinderis in such a direction indicated by an arrowin Fig. 2) that each ha f-chamber o-a'rrives rst opposite the magazineon the rightfhand side ofthe stock,

and then opposite that on the left-hand side, and hence while there arecartrid es in the right-hand magazine the half-cham ers c c, as theyseverally arrive opposite to that magazine, each receive a cartridgetherefrom,and being occupied as they pass the left-hand magazine cannot.receive any therefrom; butI as after all the cartridges have beendelivered from the right-hand -magazine the half-chaminder.

cylinder alsol brings Vbers arrive empty at the left-hand one, andI eachreceives a cartridge from theiatter. Thus it will be understood thatfirst all ,the cartridges in the right-hand magazine and afterward allthose lin the left-hand magazine are used. The cartridges are eoniinedinthe half,- chambers c c as the latter move toward a position oppositethe barrel by the circular form 0f the interior of the bottom oftheframe A and of `the interior of the plate A.

The construction and movements of the several parts of the armI havingnow been described, I will proceed to describe as briey as I can theoperations ot loading and Viiring, first remarking that the look, whichis not represented in the drawing, may be of ordinaryconstruction. Whenthe gun is in condition for firing, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the lever'H lies back close under the stock, and its cam-like portion g isbearing against the bottom of the frame A in such a manner as to holddown the yoke tight upon the cyl- After iiring, the lever H is .pulleddown Afrom the position'shown lin Fig. l by takin gl hold of the ring atits rear end, and its ,horn t is brought into contact with the foot n ofthe dog G, and as the dog cannot descend to produce the rotation of thecylinder before the latter is left free to rotate by raising the Y yoke,the said foot becomes the fulcrurn of the lever, which consequentlyraises the yoke as far as permitted by the frame A-viz., far enough topermit the rotating of the cylinder-f and when Vthe yoke can rise nofurther. the pin 71l becomes the fulcrum of the' lever, and thehorn t,by its pressure on the foot n, depresses the dog H and produces therotation `ot the cylinder, thereby causing it to carry away fromopposite the barrelv the cartridge-case which has just been discharged,and cause the said case to drop out laterally from the half-chamber cwhich has contained it, and through the opening a in the frame. Therotation of the the next half-chamber containing a cartridge opposite tothe barrel and withi-n the yoke, and at the same time takes away fromthe magazine Athe half-chamberc, whichthas just received a cartridgetherefrom, and brings another half-chamber by means of a lever,H,app1icd fulcrum veritable,A

Aapposite to the magazine for the reception of acartridge. By to theposition shown'vin Fig. 1, the hornj is brought into contact with theVfoot n; .ofthe dog Gr, and the said dog is thereby moved u'pward to apositionto engage with a new tooth,

' la, of the cylinder, andthe yoke is drawn down to bring itshalf-.chamber b into combination with the half-chamber c, which isopposite to the barrel, and everything is-in condition `for repeatingthe iire by drawing the trigger. In the operation of drawing down theyoke the bearing-point ofthe cam-like portion g of the lever becomes thefulcruin thereof, andhence it will be understood that the lever, in theseveral stages'of its operation, has three distinct fulcrums, the othertwo being the pin h and the foot n of the dog,

action of'- the hammer.

Whatv I claim as my invention, and desire -v to secure by LettersPatent, is-

1. The combination, in a re-arm,

manner substantially as herein described of a cylinder constructed witha series' oilhalichambers, c c, and the sliding yoke E, constructed'witha single half-chamber, b. 2. Combining vthe yoke E and the dog G, whichproduces the rotation of the cylinder, substantially` as hereinspecified, with itsl in the manner. set'forth. l,

3. The combination ot' the sliding tooth 13 inthe yoke a'nd the fixedtooth Mon the frame, substantially as and for the purpose -hereinspecified.v

4. The combination of the radial grooves or notches oo in the front end,of .the cylinder and the pin m, working through the front of the yoke,substantially as herein described, for the purpose of locking thecylinder.

5. The hook l1, applied withinthe opening 'a of the frame A, incombination 'with' the cylinder C and operated bythe' T/tJlIo-Ii",ysubstantially as hereinspecied. '-I

` LI. B.v 'DOOLITTLE Witnesses: I l

H. O. MILES, Lo'rm FENN,

drawing up the lever again-V` asbefore described. The cooking may beedeected through the agency of the lever H, or by the independent in the

